Warrick Dunn – Our Founder

If ever there was a comeback kid story, our Founder is one of them.

Raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Warrick Dunn was the oldest of six to his single mother, Betty Smothers. Betty worked tirelessly as a police officer until January 7th, 1993, when she was ambushed and killed while escorting a businesswoman to make a night deposit. Warrick was only 18 years old.

Thrust into the role of head of the household, Warrick used his mother’s life insurance to purchase a home for his younger siblings. In the midst of the tragedy, Warrick was also being heavily recruited as a senior out of Catholic High School to play football. He would ultimately choose to fulfill his mother’s dream and play at Florida State University.

Warrick Dunn, founder of Warrick Dunn Communities

If ever there was a comeback kid story, our Founder is one of them.

Raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Warrick Dunn was the oldest of six to his single mother, Betty Smothers. Betty worked tirelessly as a police officer until January 7th, 1993, when she was ambushed and killed while escorting a businesswoman to make a night deposit. Warrick was only 18 years old.

Thrust into the role of head of the household, Warrick used his mother’s life insurance to purchase a home for his younger siblings. In the midst of the tragedy, Warrick was also being heavily recruited as a senior out of Catholic High School to play football. He would ultimately choose to fulfill his mother’s dream and play at Florida State University.

Warrick, with the help of his grandmother, managed to both parent and be a brother to his siblings from afar, while becoming one of the best backs the Seminoles have ever seen. At FSU, Warrick was a three-time first-team All-ACC performer where he became the first back in the school’s history to record three 1,000-yard rushing seasons. He finished as the Seminoles’ career leader in rushing yards, gaining 3,959 to surpass Greg Allen’s 3,769 (1981-84), and he graduated on time in 1997 with a degree in Information Studies.

Continuing to defy the odds, Warrick was drafted in the first round (12th pick overall) of the 1997 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 1997 he was named NFL Rookie of the Year by Football News, Pro Football Weekly and Sports Illustrated, and designated Offensive Rookie of the Year by the Associated Press, Football Digest and College and Pro Football Newsweekly. Warrick would go on to play five seasons with the Buccaneers, six seasons with the Falcons, and then one final year with the Buccaneers. He retired from the NFL 14th all-time in all-purpose yards with 15,306 and 19th in rushing yards with 10,967.

During his tenure as a Falcons running back, Warrick’s curiosity and interests off the field helped him develop a close relationship with Falcon’s owner Arthur Blank. In December 2009, that relationship helped Warrick realize a long-time goal of expanding his knowledge and experience in the area of NFL team management, branding, and operations by being unanimously approved by NFL owners to become a limited partner of the Atlanta Falcons. The purchase of his minority ownership position in the club was completed in March 2010.

In addition to his impressive on-field accomplishments and resume, Warrick is perhaps best known for his involvement in philanthropy. As a rookie for the Bucs, Warrick founded the Homes for the Holidays program to fulfill his mother’s dream of homeownership for single-parent families. The program provides home furnishings and down-payment assistance for single-parent families. Since its inception, Warrick Dunn Charities has furnished 182 homes, provided over $950,000 in down-payment assistance, and served more than 457 single parents and children through the program.

WD Communities, launched in 2020, is a natural extension of the nonprofit work Warrick began with his charity and Homes for the Holiday program. The mission of WD Communities is to break the cycle of generational poverty by assisting communities through a housing-first approach.

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